Nazareth Academy was an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

all-girls Single-sex education, also known as single-gender education and gender-isolated education, is the practice of conducting education with male and female students attending separate classes, perhaps in separate buildings or schools. The practice o ...

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

high school in

Wakefield, Massachusetts Wakefield is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, incorporated in 1812 and located about north-northwest of Downtown Boston. Wakefield's population was 27,090 at the 2020 census. Wakefield offer ...

History

This independent school opened its doors on September 9, 2009. In February 2009, after the

Sisters of Charity of Nazareth The Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth (SCN) is a Roman Catholic order of nuns. It was founded in 1812 near Bardstown, Kentucky, when three young women responded to Bishop John Baptist Mary David's call for assistance in ministe ...

announced the decision to close Our Lady of Nazareth Academy in

, a group of parents, alumnae, and community business leaders started an organizing effort for a new girls' school, independent of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, with performing arts department head Patricia Tamagini as the new head of school. On April 14, 2009, by unanimous vote of the Wakefield School Committee, the new Nazareth Academy was granted official school status by the Town of Wakefield in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, indicating approval of the Academy's curriculum and state recognition for its graduates' diplomas. Nazareth Academy graduated its first class of 17 seniors in May 2010. In 2016, with a student body of less than 30, it was announced that Nazareth Academy was closing. Girls and their families who were interested in an all-girls educational environment were invited to atten
The Academy at Penguin Hall
a new school in Wenham, located in a mansion which had served as a residence for the

Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur The Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur (Congregationis Sororum a Domina Nostra Namurcensi) are a Catholic institute of religious sisters, founded to provide education to the poor. The institute was founded in Amiens, France, in 1804, but the oppo ...

from 1962 until the mid-1990s. Nazareth Academy graduated its final class of 8 seniors in May 2016.

Campus

Nazareth Academy was housed at the former Hurd school on Cordis Street in Wakefield, near

Lake Quannapowitt Lake Quannapowitt is a lake in Wakefield, Massachusetts. It is one of two large lakes in Wakefield, the other being the man-made Crystal Lake. The lake is named for Quonopohit, the Naumkeag Native American who signed a deed to the town that w ...

. The academy was the sole respondent to a request for proposals the town issued in March 2009 to use the vacant building.

Statistics

References

External links

Nazareth Academy website (via archive.org)The Academy at Penguin Hall
{{authority control Educational institutions established in 2009 Girls' schools in Massachusetts Catholic secondary schools in Massachusetts Schools in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Buildings and structures in Wakefield, Massachusetts 2009 establishments in Massachusetts